From Pakse I did a couple of day trips. The first was to the Boloven Plateau where I saw yet more beautiful waterfalls and coffee/tea plantations, and a not so good 'Traditional Village' which was now all about selling stuff to the tourists! They were all supposedly meant to make and keep their own coffins under their houses but the only one we saw was on display in the village square.

I stayed in a dive of a hotel on the outskirts of town and was woken in the middle of the night by some young local guy wanting to come and sleep in my room!

The next day I moved out and hired a scooter to see the ruined temple at Champasak. It was a bit of a disaster at first because I missed the turning and got a bit lost trying to find it. I was about to give up and was on my way back when I found the right turning and made it down to the 'ferry' if that's what you could call it! Loaded the bike onto some kind of raft with a motor and met an amazing old couple who were cycling around the world and started from the Netherlands about a year ago!

Crossed the river and rode along the other side to the temple. It was not really as good as Angkor Wat as some people had said, but it was still nice - in the same style. Bloody hot tho! Hiked up lots of steps, as the temple was set on the hillside, and had a great view from the top.

Had to rush back to get to Pakse as I wanted to leave on the last bus. It pissed with rain on the way and I got drenched and missed the bus anyway, so checked into a nicer hotel for the night and left in the morning instead!